Letters to the Editor, Jan. 6

San Francisco Chronicle

January 5, 2017

The Oakland school board has an opportunity, in the wake of Superintendent Antwan Wilson’s imminent departure, to select the kind of school leader we haven’t had for a while: one with a deeply-rooted Oakland perspective, who understands that education is not a commodity but rather a public good that must be democratically controlled. Wilson is the latest in a string of superintendents from outside Oakland who have stopped here briefly before moving on to the next phase of their careers.

After voting to hire the same search firm that brought us Wilson, the board needs to hear from the community that we don’t want to continue this approach. The public can weigh in at a forum on Jan. 14, at Frick Impact Academy, 2845 64th Ave., from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. As the parent of two graduates of Oakland public schools and the grandmother of an Oakland Unified School District kindergartner, I hope Oaklanders will turn out to demand that the board select a local candidate who is committed to Oakland and will stay the course in moving our schools forward.

Marcia Henry, Oakland

Obama defense

Regarding columnist Jonah Goldberg’s “Obama’s unseemly exit” (Jan. 5): Given President Obama’s background as a constitutional law scholar, published author and community activist, it is doubtful that he will simply be spending “the next few decades as a celebrity in liberal circles” and getting “toasts at all the right parties.”

Furthermore, Goldberg’s confusion as to why Donald Trump is “enamored with a U.S.-Russian romance” might be resolved if the president-elect released his tax returns, showing his extensive business dealings with the country his pal President Vladimir Putin rules with an iron fist. Finally, Goldberg’s contention that Obama damaged U.S. relations with Israel ignores the fact that its leader, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has recklessly allowed more construction of Israeli settlements in West Bank territory to be used for a Palestinian nation.

The reason Obama is leaving the Oval Office in high regard is because he greatly improved our economy, helped 30 million Americans get health insurance, killed Osama bin Laden and elevated the status of our country on the international stage. He did not, as Goldberg contends, put his “interests and ego ahead of everything else.”

Jean Louis Cook, San Francisco

Election season

The writers of “DNC’s ugly ‘soul’” (Letters, Jan. 4) and “Strengthen party” (Letters, Jan. 4) are on a good track. I believe the lessons learned from this year’s election season are this: On the Democratic side, no superdelegates should be involved until the convention. No one candidate should have control over scheduling of debates.

Finally, the League of Women Voters should replace the current debate commission, making the debates a truly independent process and not a setup by either major party. The American people do not trust this current system.

If the LWV is in charge, I expect this means any candidate on the ballot in most states will be on the stage debating, in the primary and general elections. It would be appropriate that those candidates would be required to submit their medical records and income taxes to the LWV by the time of the general-election debates. These are basic rules that any law-abiding candidate should be willing to follow, creating a process the American people can trust.

Priscilla Rich, Danville

Undercut ethics

Regarding “Republicans scrap a bad idea” (Editorial, Jan. 4): Do not assume that Republicans have seen the error of their ways. As you note, Donald Trump “criticized the timing of the measure,” not the substance of the measure. We can only hope that the public remains vigilant about protesting any attempts to undercut congressional ethics oversight. This is a battle deferred, not denied.

Ruth Jackson, Quincy

Mayor has to go

Regarding “Avalos sees ‘Thrones’ at play in City Hall” (Jan. 5): I applaud David Talbot’s column on John Avalos wholeheartedly. Supervisor Avalos is absolutely correct in his assessment of Mayor Ed Lee, and he is by no means the only person in San Francisco who shares his opinion of Lee. Lee is a do-nothing mayor and under his “leadership,” San Francisco infrastructure is collapsing.

The streets are filthy and they are in desperate need of repair, the traffic in insane and unregulated, public transportation is at best random, none of which are addressed by this mayor.

The only thing Lee has done, as far as I am able to discern, is to support developers at the expense of the ever-increasing homeless, and his “plan” for the homeless is to destroy their encampments and their pitifully few belongings, as opposed to any kind of meaningful rehousing. Avalos will be sorely missed — he is candid, honest and intelligent and quite correct in his assessment of Lee’s having checked out regarding San Francisco.

I miss former Mayor Willie Brown — he got things done, which is not the case with Lee. Lee has been awful and needs to go.

Gail Moore, San Francisco

Insulting choice

Regarding “Oakland to name 1st female chief of police” (Jan. 4): Is this a joke? Oakland is recruiting someone to head their troubled police force from the administration of the Chicago Police Department? The same department unable to reduce Chicago’s murder rate, a city with the highest number of murders in the nation?

And The Chronicle once again headlines the article with gender identification rather than qualifications. Or is that really the driver for the hire? What an insult to Anne Kirkpatrick.

Robert Rissel, San Jose

Stop watching

Regarding “TVs big — improvements, not so much” (Business, Jan. 5): New “smart TVs” might offer higher screen resolution and brighter colors, but they can’t change the many mindless reality-based programs being offered by the networks on a daily basis.

As Bruce Springsteen once sang, “57 channels and nothin’ on.” So here’s a radical idea: Disconnect from TVs and streaming videos on smart phones and tablets and read a good book instead.

Luisa Westbook, San Francisco

No replacement

Wouldn’t you think the Republicans, who are so hell bent on replacing the Affordable Care Act, would have something ready after all this time to replace it? Instead, they have nothing. This incredible stupidity illustrates why they should not be in control of the government.